Conjoining Poem by RIC BASTASA

you see your face in the mirror
this morning and you begin to see the lines
of age
the white hair of wisdom falling out
from the hold of your forehead
time has conquered your brow
and your eyelashes
dropping lower than you have expected

your body is drooping
taking in the weight of your years
hefty thoughts the worries of your age
leave the shocking marks in the wrinkles
of your eyelids

age and the feelings of uselessness
feast your body
your eyes begin to see the threats of sunsets
you dream about the beauty
of a hundred glowing sunrises

but it is not too late to learn again
as you welcome the new things
the sons of our weariness
the daughters of our selfmade worries
they all come
these new ideas to comfort us about the coming
of a new age
where we must accept that we are destined to leave
that we have finished what we are tasked to do
that we are finite on this body
that we have something infinite hidden in our souls

the new comes conjoining with the tired wings of the old
and they become one new bird
singing and braving the winds of change
the current of the raging rivers even still unnamed

and together we shall chart and together we shall rage again
towards the paths of eternity